Xu Xin beats Ma Long in World Tour table tennis final

Chinese table tennis player Xu Xin, ranked No. 2 in the world, beat his compatriot and world No. 1 Ma Long in 4-3 to win the men's final of the GAC Group 2013 World Tour Grand Final on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Xu cashed in 104,000 US dollars prize money, while Ma Long won 52,000 US dollars.

Both of them showed the maximum of their talent during the final. Xu, wearing a green top, decided the first set for himself.

Ma, aged 25 and dressed completely in black, answered in the second set. Xu told Xinhua afterwards that it was his toughest match ever.

Ma, who defeated in the semifinal Kim Men-seok from South Korea, won the second set 12-10.

During the third set, Ma smashed a forehand to reach a 5-5, and the fierce exchange symbolized a bit the entire neck and neck battle between the two world's best players.

The fifth set marked the turning point. Xu scored the longest winning streak within a set and quickly reached a score of 11-5 with Ma looking increasingly unsatisfied with his own performance.

After Ma struck back in the sixth set, he made some unnecessary mistakes in the seventh, while Xu quickly reached an advance of 6-1 and won the set 11-5 finally.

The 2013 World Tour Grand Final, sponsored by Chinese GAC (Guangzhou Automobile) Group, was an all-out success for China.

Also on Sunday, China's Ding Ning and London 2012 Olympic champion Li Xiaoxia won the women's doubles with 4-0 victory over Cheng I-Ching and Huang Yi-Hwa from Chinese Taipei.

Ding lost to world No. 2 Liu Shiwen in the women's singles on Saturday. Gao Ning and Li Hu won the men's doubles.

With a total prize money of 1 million dollars, the tournament was one of the most valuable in the history of the ITTF, according to the organizers.